Racing under the
name EXTRACTOR in three different Superboats over the past 18 years, Jim
Laznovsky understands the meaning of the word perseverance. One of the oldest
and most successful racing teams on the circuit, the EXTRACTOR has endured every
fathomable scenario from never having had a sponsor to sucking in a crab trap
float in Key West which cost them a world championship.

In 1979 Jim
Laznovsky drove his first race boat, a 24-foot Superboat, to victory with
another young novice boat racer, Artie Swanson. In 1980 Laznovsky's thirst for
power was again quenched with a 30-foot Superboat rigged with triple 200 Mercury
outboards, and over the course of the next four years, he acquired numerous
titles all over the country including the three time NPBA championship, second
and third place national championships in the APBA and second at the world's for
three years. Now a seasoned racer, Laznovsky stepped up again into the Modified
class in 1984 with a Zul powered, MRD rigged 32-foot Superboat cat.

After again winning
the NPBA championship for another four years after moving up to the Modified
class, the EXTRACTOR became known as "King of the East." Laznovsky
enjoyed many triumphs over the next ten years, but the world championship was
always just out of reach. But Murphy's Laws stood true to the test of time -
that is, until 1993. This proverbial underdog had the dubious honor of placing
second at the world's six or eight times due to everything from midnight boat
repairs in the pouring rain, mechanical problems, blown engines, and yes, that
infamous crab trap float.

Laznovsky recalled,
"One year we even beat JESSE JAMES, the national champion, two out of three
races and came in second to a European boat." But this dog finally had his
day when the championships were moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1993, and they took
home the checkered flag, and John Coen, owner of Superboats and lifelong friend
of Laznovsky, drove the boat.

After a one-year
hiatus from racing, Laznovsky and the EXTRACTOR racing team plans a return to
the national circuit, and Laznovsky is optimistic contending "The boat's
been overhauled: New engines, new paint job, and a new crew, the only thing that
hasn't changed is the hull- thirteen years and not a stress crack for
wear." - OFFSHORE
RACING MAGAZINE, Spring 1997